Political Quotes

“I offer a substitute amendment. The Acting CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment. The text of the amendment is as follows: Amendment No. 2 offered by Mr. Kanjorski: Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This act may be cited as the ``Credit Ratings Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress finds the following: (1) Credit rating agencies play an important role in the United States capital markets by opining on the creditworthiness of certain entities, securities, and money market instruments. (2) Institutional and retail investors utilize ratings issued by credit rating agencies in connection with evaluating credit risk and making investment decisions. (3) The Securities and Exchange Commission staff, through the no action letter process, has identified certain credit rating agencies as Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations or NRSROs. (4) Many Federal and State regulators and legislatures require the use of NRSRO ratings in regulations and statutes, including those concerning capital requirements for regulated financial institutions and portfolio quality standards, to ensure the utilization of high quality ratings. (5) The Commission staff's process for identifying NRSROs should be more transparent and efficient, while maintaining a high level of quality among NRSROs.…”